Exclusive: Manush Shah On CWG Squad Exclusion, His Admiration For Sharath Kamal And Role Model Virat Kohli
New Delhi: The dilemma of an unfair selection can certainly rattle up a sportsperson, young and old. However, Gujarat-born star paddler Manush Shah is far away from getting rattled as he speaks candidly in a one-on-one conversation with india.com. Manush specifically talks about the CWG 2022 (Commonwealth Games) selection controversy, his admiration for senior Sharath Kamal, his aggressive gameplay and a golden advice from the role model Virat Kohli.
The 21-year-old from Vadodra, Gujarat remembers his first tournament where he almost got the better of Vadodra champion. That is where his coach told him,”Our next goal is to beat this player next time we face him on court.” From this moment, Manush never looked back from Table Tennis.
Supported by the Virat Kohli Foundation (VKF) in his career, Manush had the opportunity of meeting and interacting with Kohli himself. On his interaction, the paddler said,”I had the opportunity of meeting him in 2019 and asked him that how to use aggression in a positive manner. The reason for asking this question was purely based on the fact that I identify myself as an aggressive player too. On the top of that, he has been my role model too.”
On being asked about CWG selection controversy, Manush said,”I was forced to go to court because of the unfair selection. The CoA (Committee of Administrators) had decided that old criteria where domestic (50 per cent) and international tournaments (30 per cent) while the remaining 20 per cent is left for the selectors’ discretion were to be followed. With that criteria, I was on 2nd spot behind Sharath Kamal. However, the CoA has decided to change the ratio to 40, 40 and 20 from next season.” The controversy over the selection criteria has garnered a lot of criticism.
Even with so much happening outside the court, Manush is looking forward to CWG, German League (2nd Bundesliga) and other domestic tournaments in 2022.
Manush also opens up on Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), a domestic league comprising of 6 teams who battle amongst each other for the title. Manush plays for RP-SG Mavericks Kolkata where he credits veteran Sharath Kamal for the learnings. “The way he conducts himself after playing so many tournaments is an example to follow for so many players. He is my mentor and I have learnt a lot from him. His feedback after the game is extremely valuable for me.” Manush added.
Before concluding the interaction, Manush spoke about how one can take up the table tennis sport as a career. Manush said,”The psychology of the players and his parents remain that one cannot take up the sport as a profession, however, things are changing now drastically. Now, there are equal opportunities present to excel at a higher level.